Leaders and managers who work in the higher education IT environment face challenges common to all university leaders: rapidly changing technology, shrinking budgets, policy and legislative changes, globalization, private sector competition, a changing student population, and much more. Successful IT leaders must have the talents, qualities, perspectives, and political skills to support the institution's goals and strategic directions and respond to these business drivers. In addition, they must be aware of trends in the IT field and their implications for higher education. As well as possessing excellent communication and organizational skills, effective IT leaders understand the nature of higher education, the style and context in which decisions are made, and the technology employed.

EDUCAUSE’s wealth of resources for IT leaders and managers focus on the environment in which IT leadership takes place, the planning and organizational skills needed to provide institutional leadership, and the individual characteristics required to develop and sustain a career in IT leadership. We encourage you to explore these pages to find articles, books, conference presentations, effective practices, and relevant communities to support your information needs. EDUCAUSE members contribute much of what you will find here. We invite you to submit your work to further enrich the IT management and leadership area.

Today's Higher Education IT Workforce, ECAR Study, January 2014. This ECAR research incorporates results from a comprehensive survey on more than 2,000 IT professionals as well as focus groups to provide a description of the current state of today’s IT workforce, how it has changed in the past three years, and what changes may need to be implemented to retain and strengthen IT staff.